Why standing up can prevent DVT

WHILE most of us have heard of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) what many don’t realise is that hours playing computer games can cause it.

Sitting around for too long can increase the risk of serious illness []

David Staniforth, from Sheffield, recently raised awareness of the risks after his son Chris, 20, died of the condition in May.

Medical experts are now warning people that sitting at the computer for work or going online can cause DVT. “It is more common than people appreciate,” says Professor John Pasi, consultant haematologist at Barts and the London NHS Trust. “Although people associate it with long-haul flights they don’t always realise immobility for long periods in other settings is also a significant worry.

“With more and more people working at their desks or using the internet longer it is becoming an issue we must urgently address.”

Chris would sometimes play on his console for 12 hours at a time. The coroner said a clot formed in Chris’s left calf before moving to his lungs, where it caused a fatal blockage known as a pulmonary embolism.

With more and more people working at their desks or using the internet longer it is becoming an issue

Professor John Pasi, consultant haematologist at Barts and the London NHS Trust

The phenomenon even has its own name, e-thrombosis, coined by a group of doctors in New Zealand led by Professor Richard Beasley. The phrase came after a man aged 32 died after sitting at his computer for 12-18 hours without moving around.

“Sitting immobile for 90 minutes reduces blood flow in the leg by 40 per cent, predisposing it to DVT,” says Professor Pasi. “All it takes to prevent it causing DVT is for people to get up for a couple of minutes to get the blood pumping again. Regular foot and leg exercises can help.”

The association between our sedentary lifestyles and DVT, which affects one in 1,000 people each year, was first recognised in London during the blitz in the Second World War. Decades later it became clear growing numbers of people were getting it after long flights.

I t also transpired that surgery and some medical treatments were a risk, with 25,000 people a year still dying from preventable blood clots after a stay in hospital, more deaths per year than from breast cancer, HIV, MRSA and traffic accidents combined.

“More recently we noticed people were getting DVT just from sitting at desks,” says John Scurr, consultant vascular surgeon at London’s University College Hospital.

While anyone can develop DVT he says it becomes more common with age.

“In some cases there may be no symptoms, but others experience pain, tenderness and swelling in the calf,” says Amy Thompson, senior cardiac nurse at the British Heart Foundation. If left untreated the clot can extend to the thigh, at which point there is a chance of it breaking off and blocking the blood flow to the lungs. Symptoms of this include breathlessness, pain in the chest and sudden collapse.

Mr Scurr adds: “My advice to fans of computer games, people who work long hours and those who watch a lot of TV is don’t get lulled into a false sense of security, thinking, ‘It will never happen to me’. If you don’t take regular breaks it could.”